This is justice, say his victims

When the women of Kasturba Nagar got together to plot the murder of rape accused Bharat alias Akku Yadav, they did not see it as a killing, ...

When the women of Kasturba Nagar got together to plot the murder of rape accused Bharat alias Akku Yadav, they did not see it as a killing, they saw it as their freedom struggle.

And after they stoned him to death at the Nagpur civil court on Friday, 8216;8216;they can now rest assured8217;8217;.

8216;8216;He had made life miserable for the women and girls in the locality. He would rape anyone at will, be it a 10-year-old girl, teenagers, married women, even those pregnant. Extorting money and beating up men had become routine. He would walk free on bail soon after every arrest. Tired of his excesses, we decided to kill him,8217;8217; says a woman from the Kasturba Nagar slum. Her neighbours echo her statement.

The women say they had planned to kill him on Sunday last week when he was brought to the court 8216;8216;but his death had not come then8217;8217;. They then drew up a plan for Friday when he would be brought to court. On that day, the mob broke down the courtroom door and attacked him with whatever they had 8212; stones, lathis and chilli powder. Those in the courtroom were shocked, sociologists called it an outrage of justice but the women think they know better.

8216;8216;There is no justice for the poor. What if this had happened to a minister8217;s wife or daughter?8217;8217; asks one. 8216;8216;So, we decided to do it ourselves.8217;8217;

They bore with Yadav for years but he brought it on himself, a woman said. Yadav had been externed in January, but used to frequent the locality under the police8217;s nose.

On July 10, he beat up Ramesh Somkuwar, asked his wife to dance and scarred his private parts with cigarette butts, forcing his daughter to watch. That was the last straw. 8216;8216;The police is of no use. After that incident, we thought enough was enough. Instead of dying slowly by swallowing such humiliation, we thought it8217;s preferable to die once and for all,8217;8217; says Baby Meshram. The women claim he had threatened them before his murder that he would come back and rape every woman in the locality. 8216;8216;So, we took a meeting and planned the killing.8217;8217;

Story continues below this ad

8216;8216;Once he and his 12 accomplices took a pregnant woman and raped her the whole night. The next morning, her family left the rented house,8217;8217; says Bhaganbai Meshram, a social worker. Over 20-odd families fled the locality.

Now, Yadav8217;s family has fled and their house smashed by the residents.